By
USA Today Bestselling Author
Michelle Hercules

The war between Idols and Norms has finally begun. The Neo Gods have shown their hand. They plan to vanquish every single Norm by using any means necessary, even using Fringes to do their dirty work.

My identity as the Unmaker has been revealed, which means I must go into hiding until we’re ready to strike back. But fighting the Neo Gods is not our only problem. Chaos, the primordial god, wants me dead, and facing him seems impossible. He doesn’t care who wins the war. He wants utter destruction.

Our only hope to defeat him, stop the Neo Gods, and save the world is to finally unveil the secret that connects me to Bryce, Rufio, Phoenix, and Morpheus. The key is in our past. We just have to stay alive long enough to discover it.

At the end of the last book Daisy has to to do something unthinkable. In order to save Rosie and Tobias she has to unmake Rufio, this causes them both pain and now Daisy feels so much guilt. Just as things begin to take a turn for the worst, Bryce, Phoenix, Morpheous, Soren, Andromeda and Xavier burst on the scene. Although Rufio’s father got in one last blow and now Bryce has to heal his brother from what would be a fatal wound.

As this book opens, everyone is packing up at Paragon academy, they need to leave. A call from Andromeda has Daisy and Rose leaving without the guys to meet with her. Only to be surprised she’s turned on them. It’s Soren who arrives first to help and once Daisy slows time he manages to tranquilize Andromeda. His father Gunther and brother Stephen arrive shortly after Bryce, Rufio, Morpheous and Phoenix. Morpheous makes the decision to stay with the Silverstones while the interrogate Andromeda. Leaving the others and Jodie Fallon to return to Saturn’s Bay. That flight gets a bit hairy with the angry Island God throwing a bit of a fit at them.

Now back in Saturn’s Bay, Xavier wants all of them to head to a safe house and not Gifted Academy. Everyone agrees except for Bryce, Toby and his mother. They all know something is coming it’s just when and where.

Morpheous makes some startling discoveries about his heritage while in Hawk’s Bay, there’s also a female voice speaking in his mind. That becomes important later.

Bryce doesn’t follow his mother’s orders to go to class and when he wakes he finds the campus has been taken over by the Neo Gods. In an unexpected twist, it’s Drusilla’s once minion who helps the injured Bryce. She also becomes the means to get Bryce and Toby to the others while leaving Jodie to her own issues.

After a conversation with his mother Morpheous learns the identity of his father, not a Demigod but a primordial one Erebus and the Island God is none other than his grandfather Chaos. Morpheous catches up with the others at the safe house just as Chaos the island god starts attacking them. The crazy storm with hail and lightening has him learning more about his powers. They flee the safe house which has a few consequences one of which is an injured Xavier, and also a prisoner, but Erebus sends them all to Poppy’s Joint to be safe. Where Bryce, Toby and Renata join them. Renata is a surprise to all and it gets a bit interesting.

This is a favorite scene, a bit long but necessary.

I take his hand and lift him to a sitting position. But sneaky Bryce slings his free arm around my neck and brings my mouth to his. There’s no chance I’m going to pull away from the incendiary and heady feeling of being kissed by him. I surrender without putting up a fight and only break apart from him when Xavier clears his throat.

My cheeks are on fire, and for that reason, I keep my head down, refusing to make eye contact with anyone.

“Where should I set the pie?” Felicity asks. “It’s piping hot.”

“You can set it at this table. I don’t think we need to use it as a makeshift bed anymore.” Bryce hops off and then pulls up a chair. It’s clear he intends to eat the entire pie by himself.

“You baked that pie pretty fast,” Rufio points out.

“Well, I just had to warm it up. What’s going on with that girl outside? Why didn’t she come in?”

“What girl?” I ask.

“The girl in the red sports car,” Felicity replies.

I notice the exchanged glance between Bryce and Toby and the sudden tension in both of them. “Who is she?”

“Uh, you’re not going to like the answer.” Toby rubs the back of his neck.

“Why?” I’m leery in an instant.

“It’s Renata Pomme,” Bryce replies. “She helped us escape the Neo Gods.”

“What? You brought that snake here?” I yell.

“I didn’t bring her here on purpose. She was our driver,” Bryce replies with a fork in hand, ready to dig into the pie.

“Wait. Is she the one who broke your arm, Toby?” Rosie asks.

He drops his gaze to the floor. “Yeah.”

My sister’s face turns bright red, and her eyes sparkle with fury. I know that look very well. She turns on her heels and sprints toward the diner’s exit.

“Rosie, wait!” I run after her. As much as I’m livid that Renata is here, I don’t want my sister to get anywhere near that Idol. As furious as she is, she’s still a Norm. Not a match for Renata.

“Ah, shit. Mini Daisy is out for blood,” Phoenix pipes up, coming along too.

Once outside, Rosie is already banging on the driver window. “Get out, you stupid bitch!”

“Rosie. What are you doing? She’s an Idol,” I remind her.

The car door opens and Renata steps out. She doesn’t look like she’s about to break every bone in Rosie’s body though. She seems subdued. Remorseful. Whatever. She was part of Drusilla’s posse. She tried to kill me with Silver-voltage. I’m not going to pretend she’s okay just because she helped Bryce and Toby get out of campus. Too much bad blood to forget.

“I’m out. What do you want?” she asks Rosie.

“This.” Rosie pulls her arm back and swings a punch at Renata’s nose. Her head snaps back as she staggers against her car.

“Holy shit! Rosie is savage,” Phoenix exclaims.

He’s enjoying this a lot, but I’m actually mega worried that Renata will retaliate. Things can get ugly pretty quickly.

Renata straightens up, touching her nose. There’s no blood there, obviously. Rosie is only a Norm. I notice she’s now clutching her hand against her chest and fighting back tears. Fuck. I hope she didn’t break her hand. Bryce can’t heal anyone else anytime soon.

“I suppose I deserved this,” Renata says. “You must be Toby’s girlfriend.”

“You stay away from him,” she barks.

“I’m not the despicable person I was before.”

I come to Rosie’s side, glowering. “We don’t fucking care if you’ve had a revelation. Your job here is done. You can leave now.”

“Daisy, maybe we shouldn’t be so hasty in dismissing her,” Rufio butts in. “We need as much help from Idols as possible.”

I glance at him, ready to lash out. But through the red haze of rage, I catch the true meaning of his statement. He can’t offer his help, so he’s trying to compensate for it. First with the desire to use the Idol-killing bullets, and now accepting accepting Renata as an ally. My anger deflates as clarity shines through.

“How do we know she’s not a spy for your father?” I ask.

“She’s sincere,” Toby replies. “I can’t read her thoughts, but I could tell if she were lying.”

“We can decide this later,” Xavier chimes in. “The most important thing right now is to get off the streets.”

“Where are we going now? Agent Torrance knew where we were before. It’s possible you have a traitor in your midst,” Phoenix replies.

Xavier’s gaze turns darker, worried. It’s the first time I’ve seen him unsure of himself.

“What about the Knights? They brought us to a secret location in the woods after we took care of Mr. Westbrook,” Rufio says.

No sooner does he bring them up than a black SUV pulls into the parking lot. Every fiber in my body becomes tense. More fucking cops.

How did they find us? Xavier puts a hand on my shoulder. “Relax, honey. I called Gunther a few minutes ago. Those are his associates. They’re here for Delta.”

Two men wearing a military-style dark uniform and mean attitudes to match their ensemble step out of their vehicle and head our way. I’m blasted immediately by the potency of their powers. They’re definitely not trying to hide anything.

“Xavier. You’re looking rough,” the tallest of them says.

“Getting shot in the guts will do that to a man.”

“Where’s the prisoner?” the second Knight asks.

“He’s inside. We put him in the storage room,” Felicity answers.

Both men switch their attention to my friend. One keeps his expression impartial, but the tall one has the trace of a smirk on his lips. “We?”

Felicity’s eyes bug out first and then narrow. “Well, I was the one who suggested sticking him in there.”

“I hope you did more than lock him in a room, Xavier,” the first Knight says.

“Fuck off, Rick. Who do you take me for, an amateur?” Xavier heads back to the diner but stops at the door to look over his shoulder. “Are you coming or not?”

Rick and his friend get moving. Since we already dealt with the reason for us being outside, we should follow them and get back inside too. We’ve been out in the open for too long.

“What should I do?” Renata asks.

“Leave,” Rosie replies angrily.

“Rosie, come on,” Toby says. “If I can forgive Renata, why can’t you?”

“Dude, just shut up,” Phoenix tells him. “You’re digging your grave here.”

“Clearly Toby has already made up his mind,” Morpheus says. “So, it’s up to you, Daisy. You were the other one who suffered at her hands. You decide.”

I don’t need to glance at Rosie to know what she wants me to do. If circumstances were different, I’d tell Renata to get lost. But we aren’t in a position to refuse help.

“You can stay, but I’ll be watching you like a hawk. Give me one reason to believe you’re double-crossing us, I’ll unmake you.”

Her eyes grow twice their size. I feel horrible for threatening to unmake her in front of Rufio, but I do need to put the fear of God in her heart. If she betrays us, it could cost our lives.

“I’m not going to betray you. I swear.”

Rosie pushes Renata out of her way and stomps back to the diner. I fear I might have set back the progress I made with her. First I didn’t kill Delta, and now I’m letting Renata into our fold.

Morpheus places a hand on my lower back. “She’ll come around.”

“I hope so. I can’t allow my personal baggage to affect my decisions. I think that’s what Chaos is counting on. He wants me to lose control and go on a rampage.”

“There’s something I need to tell yo—”

The diner door opens again, and out come the two Knight agents dragging Delta between them. He’s still handcuffed with a bag over his head.

Rick looks in my direction. “Why are you still outside? There’s a bounty on your head, you know.”

“Come on, Daisy,” Morpheus says.

Renata is the last one to follow us inside the diner. Rosie and Toby were having an argument on the opposite side of the room, but their bickering stops when the reason for their fight comes in.

“You’d better stay away from my sister for a while,” I tell her.

Renata rubs her nose. “She has a good hook for a Norm.”

We find Xavier, Felicity, and Bryce deep in conversation when we join them. It ceases when we approach the table.

“What’s our next move?” Rufio asks.

Judging by Xavier’s face, we might not have one yet.

“Gunther doesn’t want us anywhere near the Knights’ headquarters.”

“Why the hell not?” Phoenix asks.

“Because of the pledge we made to Chaos on the island,” Bryce replies.

“That was ages ago, and we more than proved we’re not working for that son of a bitch,” Rufio replies angrily.

“It’s not a matter of trust, son. It seems Chaos is using the tattoos you have on your backs to track you.”

“That means nowhere is safe,” I say.

“No, there’s one place, but it’s a little unorthodox.” He pauses, leaning his forearms on the table and linking his fingers together.

“Are you going to spill, or do we need to tip you over?” Phoenix raises an eyebrow.

“There’s an underground group, older than the Knights, that has been preparing for this war for centuries. They’re called the Church of the Bold and the Fearless.”

“What did you say?” The blood from Rufio’s face seem to vanish.

Xavier narrows his gaze. “You’ve heard of them before.”

“Long live the Rinnegati,” Bryce mutters. “That’s not a church. It’s the Norm resistance.”
Hercules, Michelle. Broken Knights: A Paranormal High School Bully Romance (Gifted Academy Book 4). Kindle Locations. (1835-1922). Infinite Sky Publishing. Kindle Edition.

All this is just the beginning, there are many unanswered questions. Daisy and the others find out more of the Prophesy, but it seems everything is as clear as mud. Only meant to be revealed a tiny bit at a time. Morpheous has to do something he’s not sure about and fortunately some new folks show up to help them sort things out.

Lots of action, so many surprises along with sneaking away for sexy times with her guys. The real question is if this is the end of the story or just more of a beginning.

I really want to know more about Stephan and Andromeda. Fortunately it seems the next book will feed that need.

5 Contented Purrs for Michelle!

Michelle Hercules

USA Today bestselling author Michelle Hercules always knew creative arts were her calling but not in a million years did she think she would write a novel. With a background in fashion design she thought she would follow that path. But one day, out of the blue, she had an idea for a book. One page turned into ten pages, ten pages turned into a hundred, and before she knew, her first book, The Prophecy of Arcadia, was born. Michelle Hercules resides in The Netherlands with her husband and daughter.